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Toomour Parish Cross Townland 1838 map

The Drumrat, Toomour and parts of Kilshalvy Parish Townland Information sheets bring together the first bits of information that inquisitive people ask about when looking for a relation and where they lived. These pages provide some name and place lists and online sources to introduce you to those who lived hereabouts in the recent, and not so recent, past.

Our hope is that your search fosters an appreciation for the past and its peoples and the lands they called home.

Our goal is to be helpful. Welcome to the neighbourhood.

The red numbers on the map note the specific Griffith’s Valuation (GV) fields/parcels of land. See the GV list for this town land below to match with tenants and owners holding these fields in 1857. 2

Lands boundaries have been redone since over the years, and of course land has changed hands. Information from the Land and Tenant Rate books at the Valuation Office will be a good source for more information about the people living on and working the land after this 1857 informa- tion. See the section below re Valuations.

We begin with the Down Survey of Ireland and other descriptive information about the townland below to get our bearings. Some sheets may contain estate records we were able to locate to give names of tenants early in the 1800s. We move on to the Tithe Applotment listings which tell us the heads of families in the town land in 1833. The Census records of 1901 and 1911 tell us who was in the houses in the townland on Census night. By visiting and searching other web sites, URL addresses provided, you may be able to track people via church records and civil records of births, marriages and deaths. Hint: The more information you have before searching, the better.

The Down Survey of Ireland Taken in the years 1656-1658, the Down Survey of Ireland is the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world. The survey sought to measure all the land to be for- feited by the Catholic Irish in order to facilitate its redistribution to Merchant Adventurers and English soldiers. For more information and to view the maps, go to http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/index.html and explore the site.

Townland of CROSS Down Survey Name: Crosse 1641 Owner(s): French, John (Catholic); Ffrench, John (Catholic) 1670 Owner(s): Strafford, Earl of (Protestant) County: Sligo Barony: Corran Parish: Tumocoer Profitable land: 73 plantation acres Forfeited: 73 plantation acres

The Ordnance Survey Name Book John O’Donovan 1836

John O’Donovan (1806-1861) led the Ordnance Survey project collecting information about the topography of Ireland. The work was carried out by sundry surveyors’ visiting every parish in Ireland. O’Donovan wrote the place name reports based on the data the surveyors collected.

For more information: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/irish-ge- nealogy/what-is-griffiths-valuati/ 3

Cross. a cross. A Chres. Three roads join at it.

Situated in the N. part of the parish and near the centre on the E. and W. sides of the road from Ballinafad to Ballymote, about two and three quarter miles S.E. of the latter place. It is bounded on the N. by Tonaponra; on the W. by Knockbacroy and Greyfield, and on the S. by Feenaghroe and Cloonagh.

This townland contains 78 acres of which 76 are cultivated and 22 of uncultivated mountain pas- ture. The proprietor Mr. Alexander Duke, has let it to the tenants at will, their yearly rent per acre amounting to 1 pound 14s for the arable. The mountain they have free. County Cess is paid by the acre and generally amounts to 3/-. The tithe is 1/10d. The soil is light and stoney, intermixed with limestone rocks and the general produce are oats, flax etc. The road to Balinafad to Bally- mote passes through the centre of the townland on the sides of which are situated the houses of the tenantry, which are in general, poor buildings.

Townland Place names

Cross / An Chrois (98—39) Crosse, HD; ‘an Chres’: ‘three roads join at it’, OSNB

This information from ”The Placenames of Corran,” by Nollaig O Muraile, given in a lecture at the 2008 Ballymote Heritage Weekend.

Sources cited: Tax.: Ecclesiastical Taxation, 1306; F: Fiants of Tudor Sovereigns (searched se- lectively); CPR: Calendar of Patent Rolls of James I; Str: Strafford’s Inquisition, 1635 (from Wood-Martin’s Sligo); DS: Down Survey, c 1655 (most citations taken from OSNB); Cen.: ‘Census’ of Ireland, c. 1659; HMR: Hearth Money Roll for Co. Sligo, 1665 (ed. MacLysaght); HD: Hiberniae Delineatio (al. Petty’s Atlas), publ. 1685 (but engraved c 1663); OSBN: Ord- nance Survey Parish Namebooks, 1837 (consulted - especially for evidence of Irish forms col- lected from native speakers of the language).

Population, landowners and tenants

Population figures for this townland 1841-1901

1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1901

22 17 18 21 33 30

SLIGO TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOK Parish listings

Below are the names of heads of families in the Toomour and Drumrat parishes in 1833-4. 4

The Tithe Applotment Books are records compiled between 1823 and 1837 to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings over one acre should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. We recommend a visit to the sites below for more information. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/about.jsp http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/aboutmore.jsp

Cross Townland, Toomour Parish, Co. Sligo 1834

Healy, Patt Healy, James Cunnane, Patt Hannon, Owen Davey, James Hannon, John Kevanny, Martin Kevaney, Patt

More information may be found at the National Archives Genealogy Website. Access the Census Records for 1901 and 1911 and many other informative sites at http://www.genealogy.nation- alarchives.ie

Parish Online Resources

Diocese of Achonry | County of Sligo Variant forms of parish name: Keash [includes townlands in Drumrat and Toomour]

This website contains images from the National Library of Ireland’s collection of Catholic parish register microfilms. The registers contain records of baptisms and marriages from the majority of Catholic parishes in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 1880. Go to http://registers.nli.ie/about These are incomplete but you may be surprised!

Other online resources for other denominations may be found at https://www.familysearch.org/ wiki/en/County_Sligo,_Ireland_Genealogy#Church_Records

Griffith’s Valuation 1857 County of Sligo, Barony of Corran, Union of Boyle

Griffith’s Valuation is the name given to the Primary Valuation of Ireland, a property tax survey carried out in the mid-nineteenth century. The survey involved the detailed valuation of every taxable piece of property and published county-by-county between 1847 and 1864. 5

The information with tenant and owner names for this town land is below. You can see the rest by going to the page on the GV site.

Explore Griffith’s Valuation online at these sites: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/irish-genealogy/ http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/irish-genealogy/what-is-griffiths- valuati/

Looking for more about properties? See the Valuation’s Office web site at http://www.valoff.ie/en/Archives_Genealogy_Public_Office/

Follow the links. Some material is online, other information is digitized at their office to view.

Cross Townland Page 54 (Ord. S. 39)

Tenant Owner Holding Land, house, offices or land

1 a James Caveny Viscount Palmerston Land, house and offices 2 a Michael Benson Same Land, house and offices 3 a Andrew Hannan Same Land, house and ovvices { Michael Hannon Same Land 4 { Andrew Hannan Same Land { Michael Cunnane Same Land 5 Michael Cunnanae Same Land (severance)

Census of Ireland

Census pages may be accessed through The National Archives of Ireland.

This is the home page: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie

We recommend reading the information available to become familiar with the records. We only provide names, ages and the briefest of other information. The Census pages has more about in- dividuals and families and their houses and land.

Ireland Census 1901 Co. Sligo Cross TL, Toomour Parish, DED Drumrat, Boyle Poor Law Union 6

Occupants and houses (private dwellings/buildings). Ages as given in Census.

House 1 Stone Thatch 2 rooms 5 Outbuildings Landholder is Andrew Hannon.

Hannon Andrew 84 Head of family Farmer Catherine 60 Wife Katie 29 Daughter Not married Maggie 27 Daughter “

House 2 Stone Thatch 2 Rooms 3 Outbuildings Landholder is Martin Keveney.

Keveney Martin 48 Head of family Farmer Mary 33 Wife Maggie 8 Daughter Scholar All siblings not married Delia 7 Daughter “ John 5 Daughter “ Annie 3 Daughter Kate 1 Teresa 1 month Daughter

House 3 Stone Thatch 2 rooms 3 Outbuildings Landholder is John Benson.

Benson John 56 Head of family Farmer Catherine 36 Wife Annie 17 Daughter Domestic Business All not married Maggy E 16 Daughter Scholar John 14 Son Scholar James 11 Son Scholar Patk 9 Son “ Mary J 6 Daughter “ Francis 3 Son Bridget A 6 Months Daughter

House 4 Stone Slate 3 rooms 1 Outbuilding Landholder is John Benson.

Sheeran Peter 47 Head of family National School Teacher Hanoria 35 Wife Bridget Agnes 7 Daughter Scholar All siblings not married Mary Hanoria 5 Daughter “ Patk Michael 4 Son Owen Francis 3 Son Catherine Margt 1 Daughter 7

Ireland Census 1911 Co. Sligo Cross TL, Toomour Parish, DED Drumrat, Boyle Poor Law Union

Occupants and houses (private dwellings/buildings). Ages as given in Census.

House 1 Stone Thatch 2 rooms 3 Outbuildings

Keavney Martin 60 Head of family Farmer Married Maggie 17 Daughter Scholar All siblings are single. Delia 16 Daughter “ John 15 Son “ Annie 12 Daughter “ Kate 11 Daughter “ Martin 8 Son “ James 46 Visitor Ex Const RIC Single

House 2 Stone Thatch 4 rooms 2 Outbuildings

Hannon Patk Joseph 42 Head of family Farmer Bridget 45 Wife Married 5 years Catherine 76 Mother Widow Thomas 1 Nephew born Co. Roscommon

House 3 Stone Thatch 4 rooms 2 outbuildings

Sheeran Hanoria 47 Head of family Post Mistress Widow Married 18 yrs. w/ 9 children born live and 8 still living Bridget A 17 Daughter Scholar All siblings are single Mary H 15 Daughter “ Patrick M 14 Son “ Owen F 13 Son “ Kate M 11 Daughter “ John James 9 Son “ Annie Jane 8 Daughter “ Sebina T 6 Daughter “

House 4 Stone Thatch 2 rooms 5 Outbuildings

Benson Catherine 47 Head Farmer Widow James 22 Son All siblings single Patrick 20 Son Mary 18 Daughter Francis 13 Son Scholar 8

Bridget 10 Daughter Scholar Thomas 8 Son Scholar

What else can we know about our old parishes and townlands?

County Sligo is long inhabited, and the folks who lived here left many reminders - like the ring- forts dotting our fields. We can now learn more of these and other monuments via the Archaeo- logical Survey of Ireland, a unit of the National Monuments Service, and its’ online database base. Go to https://www.archaeology.ie and look for the Historic Environment Viewer - an on- line digital service provided by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Tis quite a tool. The viewer is accessible on most browsers and platforms, including smart phones.

Future additions to assist users of these Townland Information Sheets

The local people of the Keash/Culfadda Parish area will continue to refine these Townland in- formation sheets as time goes on. With the valuable help of neighbors and relations they will add names of residents who came to live, work and pass on to others the fields and homes of these townlands for a few more years beyond the 1911 Census, to bring knowledge of the past up close to current memory and understanding. They will also do their best to name the local fields and gathering places of by-gone days - where, for instance, our ancestors used to dance at the cross- roads or meet at a well marked land mark, etc. This way, even as old places take on new mean- ings befitting the era, the past is not lost and our ancestors might still be seen along the roads, in the fields and their old homes - here or gone.

Questions or something to add? Contact ______